The Sounds of Taraab profile picture

The Sounds of Taraab

Music of Zanzibar

About Me

A little over 100 years ago, the Sultan of Zanzibar sent his court musicians abroad to study...They returned, and taraab ws born. This genre, found in the towns of coastal Eastern Africa, is a happy hybrid of Arabic, Indian, and African styles, with the poignant songs of love and longing sung in the melodious language of Kiswahili.Zanzibar style taraab is basically Egyptian song and modal practice, and the predilection for Arabic instruments, such as the oud, qanun, nai, and violin, and takt percussion...dumbeg & riq. Mombasa is known for highly syncopated rythmn, with accordion, oud and violin backed up by guitar and modern drum kit. Dar Es Salaam sings songs that may be right out of an Indian movie, and tablas are the popular form of percussion there in that cosmopolitan city. In addition, you may hear varied instruments from anywhere, such as Japanese biwa or Latin American bongos, demonstrating the ecclectic nature of this music.The Sounds of Taraab endeavor to familiarize audiences with the exciting and profound music amd dance from Africa's Eastern coast. http://www.myspace.com/soundsoftaraab


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Member Since: 11/28/2006
Band Members: Alsarah - vocals www.alsarah.com

Ismail Butera - accordion and vocals

Rami El Aaser- percussion [darbeki, riq, frame drum]Tiye Giraud - percussion and vocals (shekere, darbeki, pandeiro)

Michael Hess - violin and nai flute

Haig Manookian - oud

Influences: Egyptian classical music, Indian popular & film music, Gulf Arabic, Sudanese, Bi Kidude, Ikwani Safa Musical Club, Culture Musical Club.
Sounds Like: Zanzibar and other areas of Eastern Africa. A beautiful marriage of Arab, African and Indian sounds, Taraab music is all about beautiful highly ornamented vocals, the lyrics almost always about love, soulful instrumental taqasim [modal improvisation] and exciting percussion. Lovers of Middle Eastern music will enjoy this genre for sure.
Record Label: unsigned
Type of Label: None

My Blog

WFMU Music Sampler...

WFMU just released a music sampler of groups that have performed on their show, and they included "Mahaba Wa Taka Nini" by Sounds of Taraab. www.freemusicarchive.org/prelaunch/samplerv1/ This is a so...
Posted by The Sounds of Taraab on Wed, 09 Jul 2008 06:23:00 PST

WFMU Music Sampler...

WFMU just released a music sampler of groups that have performed on their show, and they included "Mahaba Wa Taka Nini" by Sounds of Taraab. www.freemusicarchive.org/prelaunch/samplerv1/ This is a so...
Posted by The Sounds of Taraab on Wed, 09 Jul 2008 06:23:00 PST

Tying the knot with taraab!

Well, it's been a while since writing something here, but we hope everybody is enjoying the Summer, which is now officially upon us. And, the Summer is wedding season, and Sounds just got finished per...
Posted by The Sounds of Taraab on Sun, 29 Jun 2008 09:51:00 PST

Taraab at Barbes...

The Sounds of Taraab did a mind blowing show at Barbes Brooklyn last Friday night.The band was definitely in sync and in great form, and the audience was a fantastic group of people.Again, Barbes is i...
Posted by The Sounds of Taraab on Sun, 06 Apr 2008 12:51:00 PST

Our CD Release Party...

Well, we played the CD release party on Valentine's Day, and it was, thanks to all of you who attended, a smashing success! We of Sounds of Taraab thank you for coming out and supporting us. The peopl...
Posted by The Sounds of Taraab on Sun, 17 Feb 2008 05:44:00 PST

The Golden Fest!

Thought I would let ya know a little about this. The Golden Festival is a gala jamboree of over 40 bands playing music from predominantly the Balkans and Eastern Europe, but also the Near East and oth...
Posted by The Sounds of Taraab on Mon, 14 Jan 2008 04:26:00 PST

To the recording studio!

Well, we are finally going into the studio to record our first CD! It's gonna be a fun experience, especially with this great group of people that make up the band known as The Sounds of Taraab! Alsar...
Posted by The Sounds of Taraab on Wed, 05 Dec 2007 05:16:00 PST

Taraab at the Cafe Nana

The Sounds of Taraab will be at the beautifully decorated Cafe Nana, a lovely place up on Manahattan's west side, near Columbia University. Now, we keep talking about spending an Evening in Zanzibar, ...
Posted by The Sounds of Taraab on Thu, 25 Oct 2007 06:39:00 PST

National Geographic World Music Site!

National Geographic has a really cool site devoted to world music, and there one can read about and listen to some great "Taraab" music, too. Simply search for  worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com ...
Posted by The Sounds of Taraab on Thu, 04 Jan 2007 10:12:00 PST